the battle of five kings

A following tale

The War of the Five Kings was a large, multi-theatre war fought for control of the Iron Throne of Westeros. As the name implies, at one time during the war five people claimed the title of king: Joffrey, Stannis and Renly Baratheon all claimed the Iron Throne of Westeros, whilst Robb Stark claimed the title of King in the North and Balon Greyjoy claimed the title of King of the Iron Islands.

It is notable that House Arryn and House Martell both remained neutral in the war, and took no part in the fighting. The powerful House Tyrell first declared themselves to Renly, then to Joffrey. House Tully remained closely allied to House Stark throughout the conflict.

The War of the Five Kings is the principal military conflict depicted in the first three novels of the Song of Ice and Fire series, and its aftermath and successor conflicts continue in the latest two novels.

The clear historical influence for this war is the Thirty Years War, a prolonged religious and political war fought mostly in Germany at the beginning of the 17th century. Elements of the war, such as mercenary armies, widespread pillaging and atrocities committed on villagers were transposed to the conflicts in the Riverlands.

Contents

1Causes

2Course of the war

2.1Initial skirmishes

2.2The war intensifies

2.3The North is outflanked

2.4The war winds down

2.5Ongoing regions of conflict

3Theatres of war

3.1The War in the Riverlands

3.2The War in the South

3.3The Battle of the Blackwater

3.4The War in the North

3.5Related conflicts

Causes

During the War of the Usurper, Robert Baratheon successfully overthrew the Mad King, Aerys II Targaryen, and began a new dynasty. He married Cersei Lannister and they had three children, Joffrey, Myrcella and Tommen, apparently easily securing the succession.

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However, the King's Hand, Jon Arryn, and the king's brother, Stannis, became suspicious over the legitimacy of Robert's three children. They investigated and eventually concluded that the children were not Robert's at all, but the product of incest between Cersei and her twin brother, Jaime Lannister. Stannis immediately returned to Dragonstone and began mustering troops, whilst Jon continued his investigations, hoping to produce enough evidence to convince the king. However, Jon's actions exposed himself to the Queen, and he was poisoned to death.

Oblivious, King Robert appointed Eddard Stark to the position of Hand, but Eddard was tipped off by a letter from Jon's widow, his sister-in-law Lysa Arryn, that the Lannisters had Jon murdered. Eddard's investigations led him along the same path as Jon and Stannis before him, and to the same conclusions.

Unbeknownst to Eddard or Robert, Robert's youngest brother Renly had been in secret negotiations with Lord Mace Tyrell. Aware that the Lannisters would likely make a power grab should Robert die, Renly agreed to marry Mace's daughter Margaery in return for his military support in an attempt to take the throne.

Meanwhile, Eddard's son Bran had suffered an injury in Winterfell, and an assassin had attempted to finish him off but was stopped and killed. He was carrying a knife said to belong to Tyrion Lannister. Eddard's wife, Catelyn, apprehended Tyrion on the Kingsroad and took him into custody. This act of kidnapping, as the Lannisters saw it, sparked the beginning of open hostilities.